First off...just wanted to say I'm happy to be back. I frequently posted on the old board on the old site but it's been several years since I was active there. So I've returned with a new profile and look forward to joining all the discussions

Quick question: What happened with Annúminas during the Third Age, say during the War of the Ring? It was abandoned after the last High King and then re-built and re-populated in the Fourth Age but what about in between? Was it just sitting there empty? Was it populated by Orcs or Men or anyone? Was it ever written anywhere anything about those years?

As far as we know, it was simply a ruin after the downfall of Arnor, much like its counterpart Fornost was. It can be assumed that the Rangers watched over it as a part of their heritage but I don't believe it was populated during that time.

As for what happened there during the War of the Ring, that would be the stuff of fan fiction. For example, The Lord of the Rings Online makes it a target of an invasion by the forces of Angmar, seeking to weaken the remaining Dunedain of the North. But I don't think Tolkien himself says much about it.

Tolkien seemed intent on having both high capitals fall into decline (if not disrepute; I can only imagine seedy pawn shops left over and red light districts).

Either Fornost or Annuminas were referred to as Deadman's Dike in Bree, meaning no one but ghosts haunted the place, but Rangers went there. What Rangers actually did there isn't clear to me. Did they walk past abandoned buildings and feel sad and reverential? Or did they maintain little homes among the ruins? I suspect the latter. The old and sick among the Rangers had to live somewhere, so maybe they occupied a tiny space there. Mere speculation.

It makes sense that the rangers may have had small settlements in these ruined areas. The Dunedain in general must have lived somewhere, with the Chieftain leading them. Aragorn and Gilraen live with other Dundain until Arathorn is killed. Later, when Gilraen feels that her days are waning, she leaves Rivendell to return to her people. I've always assumed these groups based themselves around the old strongholds Is there a Tolkien topic that you have wanted to look into more deeply and write about your thoughts on it? If so, we'd like to hear from you for the next TORn Amateur Symposium- coming in November. Happy writing!

Yeah that makes sense, since the Rangers patrolled the North and looked after areas near the Shire/Bree, it stands to reason they watched over the old strongholds. It's just sad & spooky to think about them just sitting there abandoned, falling into disrepair. And what do trees have to talk about? Hmm...except the consistency of squirrel droppings?

the likelihood of anything really happenning there is very remote, as Annuminas was left to rot rather than defended to the last building . Much like Osgiliath in the south, it decayed and became uninhabitable for humans. Much of it must have remained intact, however as Aragorn never rebuilds Osgiliath but manages to make Annuminas his northern capital.

I don't think Gilraen and her people lived there though. The Dunedain of the North were not city people, as Aragorn hints in Gondor "not used to houses of stone"(he tells Imrahil to say that to Denethor like it was the truth) and likely live in the forest in more simple dwellings. As their job is to patrol around the Shire, they would live well away from the old roads that led to Fornost or Annuminas as to remain hidden. The tales in Bree about Deadman's Dike are more likely the Rangers using that place as a shortcut rather than hanging around the ruins.

The name Annuminas reminds me of the Shelley poem "Ozymandias"...
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so I visualize these amazing gigantic sculptures scattered throughout desolate plazas, some half-buried under wind-swept sand, and wind humming through empty alleyways and open windows, where you can shout "HELLO!!," at the top of your lungs and only hear echoes and the rustling of feathers as a flock of startled pigeons takes flight. Kind of a spooky place with hints of its former glory....

An answer not specific to your question about Annúminas, but to the where the Dúnedain of the North may have lived, post-Arvedui. David Salo's note, based on his reading of the Marquette Collection of Tolkien's papers suggests The Angle, between the Mitheithel and the Bruinen Rivers, south of Rivendell.

See link below, which squeezes about as much as you can realistically get from this:

http://middle-earth.xenite.org/2011/09/27/where-did-aragorn-come-from/ Welcome to the Mordorfone network, where we put the 'hai' back into Uruk

... Annuminas, unlike Fornost or Amon Sûl, was not destroyed during the downfall of Arnor and later Arthedain. It was "just" abandoned (however, already very much so before the war with Angmar reached its peak)... but of course it must have fallen into ruins by the time of the War of the Ring.

I read in a wiki article that it was used by the rangers (as others have posted here) but also some Hobbits... I do not find a source for that, however. Can anybody help?

Are there any artworks by Lee or Howe picturing Annuminas? I would really love a good picture of this city, especially after it was made the capital of Arnor again by Aragorn.

“A dragon is no idle fancy. Whatever may be his origins, in fact or invention, the dragon in legend is a potent creation of men’s imagination, richer in significance than his barrow is in gold.” J.R.R. Tolkien

Words of wisdom that should be remembered - both by critics, purists and anyone in between.